Google Clips is a new $249 smart camera that you can wear

Google debuted a product that basically no one saw coming at its big hardware event today: A camera called Clips. It's not your typical camera, however – it's designed essentially for passive use, as a way to help capture moments that you'd miss with a dedicated camera or your smartphone.

Clips grabs "motion photos," the new picture format that Google created that includes some brief movement around the frame, like a Live Photo from Apple. It doesn't grab audio, but it does have smart recognition features on board. It also doesn't use any kind of network connection, so it's not broadcasting the stuff it captures anywhere. You can connect to your phone to check what you've got.

It's a twist on the lifelogging wearable camera, which included devices like the Narrative Clip, and it uses machine learning to key in on certain people and pets of your choosing and only capture them, so you don't miss out on adorable moments. Clips is designed to be clipped anywhere, however, including around the house.

Clips comes with 16GB of onboard storage, and also offers up to three hours of passive smart capturing per charge. Plus, it'll alert you when its lens is blocked via intelligent notifications to your phone. The camera has a 130-degree field of view, Gorilla Glass 3 for durability, and has USB C, Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth LE for connectivity. It shoots at up to 15 frames per second, and selects for stable, clear shots of its subjects.

It's retailing for $249, and interestingly Google doesn't seem to be eager to provide info on how many megapixels the sensor has.